The Mission X Officially X Begins

On the morning of March 7, Qi Zhou was still asleep when he heard a "ring-ring-ring~~ring-ring-ring~"-the telephone on his bedside table was ringing.

He sat up and groggily picked it up. "Hello?"

"Good morning, Mr. Barton. A guest calling himself 'Shalnark' has asked whether you are staying here. Do you know him? Or would you like us to turn him away?"

Qi Zhou was instantly jolted awake. "Don't! I know him. I'll be right down."

Qi Zhou hurriedly pulled on his coat and shoes and ran downstairs. In the lobby, he saw Chrollo sitting on a sofa in a suit, with Shalnark sitting opposite him, smiling at Qi Zhou with his big, wide-open emerald-green eyes.

"Yo~" Shalnark spotted Qi Zhou and raised a hand in greeting.

Qi Zhou walked over to the two of them. Before he could say anything, Shalnark patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile:

"Come on~ Let's talk outside."

"...Oh." Qi Zhou glanced at Chrollo, who hadn't said a word or even looked at him the entire time, and knew better than to ask.

He followed Shalnark all the way outside the hotel.

Shalnark stopped, turned around, and smiled at him. "Well? Any leads?" He gave a sly grin. "Need a hint?"

"Here."

Qi Zhou held out the whale badge in his hand for him to see.

"Not bad~" Surprise showed in Shalnark's eyes. "You're not as useless as we thought."

Qi Zhou felt like he was being looked down on. "If you didn't think I could do it, then why give me the job?!"

"If I'm not mistaken, you're the only one who can use that badge, right?" Shalnark shrugged and smiled.

"...Yeah." Qi Zhou nodded, then asked in puzzlement, "Once I get inside, how am I supposed to tell you what I see?"

"We have our ways. All you need to do is get inside," Shalnark said. "Now, the leader has a message for you, so listen closely."

Qi Zhou: "...Oh."

Shalnark coughed to clear his throat, then imitated Chrollo's voice. "Once you're inside, don't rashly use Gyo to observe anyone. Just maintain Ten, and don't do anything unnecessary."

Qi Zhou: "...Got it. Could you stop doing that? It's kind of weird."

"Haha~ I thought I'd sound just like him." Shalnark laughed.

"Your voices don't even sound the same!" Qi Zhou was speechless.

Shalnark smiled. "All right, go back. Just pretend you don't know the leader."

Qi Zhou nodded and slowly walked back. Shalnark watched him go, the smile fading from his face.

A phone with little purple devil wings appeared in his hand, and in his eyes, an antenna was sticking out of Qi Zhou's back.

That was his Nen-Black Voice.

At six that evening, Qi Zhou arrived beside the musical fountain. More than a dozen discreetly luxurious black sedans were already parked there, each with an attendant in a bow tie and white gloves standing beside it.

Qi Zhou walked up to one at random. The attendant looked at him for a moment and said, "Are you Mr. Barton? Could I trouble you to show me your proof?"

Looks like the special visitor's identity is no longer a secret.

Thinking this, Qi Zhou silently took out the whale badge and waved it in front of the attendant.

"My apologies for the discourtesy. This way, Mr. Barton." The attendant immediately bowed and apologized, then opened a door on the side of the sedan for Qi Zhou. Once Qi Zhou was seated inside, the attendant opened the driver's door and started the car.

The sedan slowly pulled away. Qi Zhou watched in surprise as it headed toward the lake, but just as it was about to drive into the water, the ground suddenly opened. An enormous horizontal door slid backward, revealing a gently descending ramp and a dark tunnel within.

So this is how they solved it? That's ridiculous! Qi Zhou thought. The door is controlled by machinery, not Nen. No wonder I couldn't find it even with Gyo.

The sedan slowly drove into the tunnel.

After an unknown amount of time, Qi Zhou felt the sedan slowly begin to climb. After leaving the tunnel, it drove for another ten minutes or so along a long road lined with golden-leaved trees before stopping in a plaza. About five hundred meters farther ahead stood the magnificent, palace-like building that was visible even from the outer island.

Around five or six sedans were already parked here, neatly lined up.

The attendant got out and opened the door for Qi Zhou. "Mr. Barton, please allow me to show you the way," he said softly.

"...All right." Qi Zhou nodded.

The two slowly walked toward the building in the center.

There was an enormous statue in the center of the plaza. As Qi Zhou passed it, he glanced at the description. The statue depicted a famous musician from the previous century named Hilt Wood.

"Mr. Hilt Wood was the current family head's great-great-grandfather and a respected pianist. His composition, the Deep Sea Sonata, remains one of the world's five great virtuoso piano pieces to this day. No more than ten pianists can play it perfectly," the attendant explained, seeing Qi Zhou's interest.

Qi Zhou nodded and, standing before the statue, bowed slightly in his capacity as a pianist of a later generation.

A moment later, the two arrived at the palace's main entrance.

Twelve enormous white-jade-colored stone pillars supported the palace. Qi Zhou's expression changed instantly when he saw the carvings on them-they were the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac, which he knew extremely well. Though he didn't know if it was his imagination, the carvings all gave him an uncanny feeling.

Not only that, but despite the building's magnificent splendor, Qi Zhou felt... as though something from the abyss and the darkness were watching him.

With his hand in his pocket, Qi Zhou tightened his grip on the skull badge.

He hadn't been idle these past few days, having tested the various rules of the Mouth of Calamity.

First was its creation: he could only create one after finishing a performance of the Sonata of Darkness on the piano, and doing so also consumed a certain amount of Nen.

Next was wearing it. If he consciously stopped wearing it, the Mouth of Calamity would disappear. If he never stopped, he could keep wearing it indefinitely. Then came the third point: each time he put it on, the skull consumed a tenth of his Nen, and each day after that, the amount it consumed doubled from the previous day.

In other words, it was ten percent on the first day, twenty percent on the second, forty percent on the third, and eighty percent on the fourth. That was the limit of his testing; Qi Zhou hadn't dared go any further to see whether it would stop at all his Nen or drain him dry trying to reach 160 percent.

Lastly, whether because of his Nen or because he hadn't collected the complete score, he could currently possess at most two Mouths of Calamity. If he made a third, the first one he had created would disappear. Likewise, he could wear only one at a time. If he tried to wear both, the two skulls would stare each other down, then curse and perish together, both disappearing.

"Good evening, Mr. Barton. Thank you for gracing us with your presence."

A middle-aged man in a suit and leather shoes stood at the palace's main entrance, also wearing white gloves. "My name is Sith Lawn, and I am the butler of Whale Manor. Please allow me to show you the way from here."

Qi Zhou looked at the middle-aged man, but the latter merely wore a courteous smile, revealing nothing of his intentions.

"All right."

Qi Zhou nodded and followed him, slowly walking into the palace.